That was one of the most tense moments, for all the spectators of the competition. It didn't matter who; normal people, students, teachers, or professional heroes. Everyone was biting their nails over the start of this confrontation. For those who didn't know the two contestants personally, this would be the last match of the first round of fighting.

For many, it seemed more like the start of a massacre; no one knew Wanda, but Flash was well known from a few months before due to Carnage's attack. Many obviously did not remember the news, but several professional heroes had kept an eye out for news of the boy who survived being held hostage by a villain like Carnage.

In a similar way, those who knew the two also feared for the girl. Wanda was really powerful, but this environment wasn't very favorable for her powers. Even though she could use her energy to launch attacks directly, most of her training and expertise was focused on object manipulation. Being in an open field, such actions are difficult at extreme levels. While Flash, in addition to being one of the most powerful first-year students, also had the advantage of the terrain; an open field in a 1v1 battle, was his ideal scenario.

"You can give up if you want, you won't have to go through the humiliation," Flash spoke with disdain to Wanda, expecting nothing from that confrontation.

"..." But the girl said nothing, just enduring what the boy said without being shaken. This was not the time to be affected by words, or to expend the energy to answer them.

Back in the stands as instructions were given to the competitors, Wanda's three friends looked on with worry and anxiety. Gwen nervously ate the hot dogs she bought, Danny tried to keep his cool, while Peter didn't even have his notebook in hand, he wouldn't be able to write at all.

"Peter, what was the strategy you were going to suggest to Wanda?" Danny asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, it wasn't very complex, but it's based on something she told me a few weeks ago," the boy replied, picking up his notebook and opening it to the page where a strategy was written. "She said she can move people at a distance if she can overcome their 'willpower'. But it's easier for her to do so after making physical contact."

"So the strategy would be for her to touch Flash?" Danny puts his hand on his chin, looking at the page with notes.

"Exactly," Peter replied. "But with Flash as an opponent, it won't be easy…"

Wanda quickly analyzed her surroundings before the battle; she had only herself and the battlefield. She remembered hearing Peter talk a little bit about the field itself after one of Mr. Murdock's classes; there's an iron platform underneath containing sensors and other devices to level the battle, such as cooling in case of a Quirk that heats it or other things. It was quite resistant, but not indestructible. With that the girl thinks of a plan for combat.

And soon after, finishing the explanation of the rules, Emma Frost starts the fight. And in the same instant, Wanda is on top of his opponent.

Even though he'd be quick to react, Wanda knew that the boy wouldn't try very hard in that fight. It was obvious: Flash didn't care about her, and since he was more powerful, he'd probably let her wear herself out before making a serious move. So for that reason, she needed to make her strategy work as fast as possible.

Running slightly down towards her opponent, Wanda prepared for her initial strategy; make the fight end as quickly as possible in an unexpected way. Without using her powers for anything, the girl starts getting closer to Flash until, when the boy was about to defend himself, Peter's words come back to her.

"You always did start a fight with your right..."

Seeing the boy's right arm extending towards her, likely to use his Quirk to throw her away, the girl used her Quirk too. In the blink of an eye, she dug her opponent's claws into the ground of iron. Throwing some of the red energy into Flash's arm, she forced the tips of the black claws to bury themselves in the middle of the metal. With that, she found herself a way to be able to touch him and throw him off the field.

But the boy didn't fail to impress. Mere inches before the girl's hand touched him, a huge amount of black goo gathered itself on the side of the boy's torso, covering that area of his red suit. It creates a single black tentacle, which hit the girl and threw her away at a distance.

The girl gets up with some difficulty after the blow to the stomach, she twitched a little and she feels a bit sick, but then she pulled herself together and got to her feet. She wasn't too surprised, she had changed her plan at the last second when she saw an opening, but she should've considered that the boy would be able to defend himself.

As Wanda prepared her next course of action, her classmates looked down in concern. The girl wasn't a hand-to-hand fighter, she didn't have the resistance of Laura, Amadeus, Luke or even Peter. She couldn't take so many physical attacks in a row, what she would do now was the doubt that hung in the minds of all students of 1-A.

She ran toward Flash again, but this time she used a lower position, with her torso stretched forward to keep close to the ground. With this, she saw her opponent activating his power from a distance, covering his arm with black goo, increasing its size and forming claws. But since she was lower, it would be more difficult for her to dodge if the attack came from the below. But what he didn't know was that it was all the girl's plan.

With his opponent zeroing in, the boy prepared his attack, arm behind his back ready for the strike. Paying close attention, Wanda waited for the right moment. When the boy's claws were close to the arena floor, she activates her Quirk, moving his hand down a bit. Along with the strength of Flash's attack, it stabs iron plates again, close to the first time that this had happened. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the boy was strong enough that he destroyed that piece of the floor. With a sharp movement, he opened a hole, revealing the wires and devices underneath.

Even though she was waiting for this, Wanda still tried to defend herself, creating a small reddish energy barrier in front of her. She was trying not to be hurt by her opponent's claws, but she still took a good part of the impact and was thrown back again. Once more, she fell to the ground and rolled a little.

Getting up, now even more tired, she noted that her plan worked; there was now a hole in the arena next to Flash's feet, and she could see some sparks coming out. This indicated some malfunctioning device, exactly what she wanted. She then proceeds to the second stage of the plan.

Running again, but not as fast towards the boy, she waits until he was focused on her, preparing for his attack. That's when it happens; she activates her Quirk, messing with the apparatus inside the hole and sending a shower of sparks flying over Flash. He didn't realize until it was too late, and in a second he was blinded, distracted by the sparks.

"Grrrrr..." He growled, protecting his eyes with his arm. When he partially opened his eyes, he noticed a blurry red figure coming his way. Did she think she could trick him that easily? He prepared another clawed black arm, quickly moving in for an attack against what he thought was the girl, "You think can able to trick me with these cheap little-"

But before he could finish the sentence, he managed to hit his target. What caught him off guard was the fact that under his claws against the floor, was just the girl's gym jacket. Meanwhile, the girl had maneuvered to the back, into his blind spot, having discarded the red outfit to reveal a black tank top that she wore underneath. She then stretched an arm out, trying to use that golden opportunity to touch and levitate him off the field.

He was so close... and yet at the same time so far.

Apparently he noticed the girl coming from behind his back, and just a few inches from contact, the boy used the same trick as before. Creating a tentacle directly from his back, a quick movement caught the girl and threw her back. However, he didn't push her off the arena; this wasn't how he wanted to win.

Wanda found herself once again on the ground; she was feeling terrible. She'd already used two different strategies, used up a lot of energy, and taken a lot of damage from her opponent. And Flash didn't seem the least bit affected by all that. With all her effort in vain, was it worth continuing?

No! She couldn't think that way, that wasn't a heroine's mindset. Shaking her head, she glared at her opponent and scans the arena again.

What would Peter do? Wanda thought, soon coming up with another plan. If it didn't work, this would be it. Wanda was almost sure that if she wasn't successful, she wouldn't be able to fight afterwards. This time, it was all or nothing.

She again lowered herself and ran toward the opponent; Flash thought it would be the same thing from before, so he uses his raised arm to strike. But Wanda used some of his Quirk to maneuver the attack, missing it and sinking into the ground again. Still, the impact was strong enough to push her away, again knocking her to the ground. But the girl stood up and does the same thing again.

"I can't watch..." Kamala said, covering her eyes.

"This is not an honorable battle," Danny noted, as Gwen firmly held his arm, uncharacteristically silent.

But two who remained alert and attentive were Pietro and Peter. The twin was obviously worried about his sister, his legs were shaking at high speed without him even realizing it, while his hands rested on his thighs.

Fortunately for the boy, he felt a hand covering his own in an attempt to calm him down. It works, and he slows down and starts holding that hand. It was Tandy, at his side offering him comfort.

Peter, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury, and watched it with various emotions stuck in his chest. There was concern about what could happen to Wanda, and fear of what Flash might do. But above all, he felt an extraordinary rage. He'd always been the target of Flash, both physically and psychologically. And now someone else was on that receiving end. But in that moment, there was nothing he could do. He gripped on to the small security wall in front of the chairs, squeezing so tightly that his joints were turning white.

As the same attack situation ensued, some people in the audience didn't seem to be very satisfied. "Stop it, now!" One of the heroes, outraged by the situation, yelled at Flash and rose from his seat. "If you want to be a hero, then stop acting like a bully! If you want to win, just beat her, stop playing with her!"

"That's right!" A heroine joined in, and several members of the crowd start to boo the blonde haired boy.

"I agree! Men are pieces of sh-" Deadpool starts to say something, but was whacked in the head by his co-announcer's walking stick.

"To the man who started this booing, a question: are you a hero? If so, I hope you are considering getting another job soon," Matthew said into the microphone, silencing the stadium again.

"Instead of seeing a boy fighting a girl, which makes me think that you consider her weak just because she is a girl, you should be watching two heroes in training, who know each other's skills and talents. They're both making every effort to be as efficient as possible in this fight, as heroes must be..." Murdock finished, leaning back into his wheelchair.

"You can't go around with these speeches, you know it turns me on…" Deadpool quipped to his colleague, earning himself another rap on the head with the walking stick.

After more unsuccessful advances, Wanda simply stood up and stops to get her bearings. She was breathing hard, was very dirty and scratched up. Her legs were shaking with fatigue and adrenaline, but still, she raised her head and looked Flash dead in the eyes before speaking.

"Thanks for the weapons," she said, extending her arms and making some movements with her hands. The red energy surrounds her fingers, and soon her eyes start to shine with the same scarlet glow.

"Huh?" Flash was taken aback, not realizing the trouble he was now in. In mere seconds, the girl's power levitates several objects. Destroyed pieces of the arena and loose pieces from the inner parts. And in a simple hand movement, dozens of projectiles fly at high speed in the direction of Flash.

He had to do something, covering his arms with goo and trying to protect his vital parts, but there were too many projectiles. He was hit by pieces that reach blind spots. While he was capable of regeneration, it would mean moving some of the goo and having less of a defense. Impossibly, he was being overwhelmed.

During that time, the boy withdrew more and more into himself. His Quirk wasn't very good against multiple attacks, and the pain was increasing. A rage that he was unable to release began to accumulate inside his chest. A deep, macabre, poisonous hatred... Then he heard it, from inside his own head;

"Kill her..."

The boy paused for a moment, momentarily put off by the dark voice. What's worse, that same rage seemed to be attempting to gain control of his body.

Wanda noticed her opponent's expression, and used that opening. She dropped some of the projectiles, giving her the last bit of energy she needed. Condensing and launching a burst of red light, it hit the boy square in the chest, launching him out of the arena. Flash barely had time to react until his feet land outside of the allowed range.

"Eugene Thompson has crossed the line, the winner is the 'Witchy Woman'!" Said Professor Frost with a slight smile on her face. Flash just looked around, as if coming out of a trance. He found himself off the arena, but something else was on his mind; the venomous voice and that killer instinct that nearly took him over.

The audience went crazy, everyone was so happy for Wanda's victory, especially her class. Her friends sank into their respective chairs, relieved that all that tension was over, and in the best possible way for them. Until they realized that a Flash who'd lost could be worse than normal.

Peter, having his next fight as an excuse, quickly got up and left towards the break room, hoping to congratulate his friend. Walking through the corridors and going up the flights of stairs necessary to get to the break room, Peter didn't pay much attention to his surroundings. He passed a ladder that went up and almost ran into the person he least wanted but most expected to find; Flash Thompson.

"Excuse me..." There'd been few times where Flash had lost at something, but Peter had seen him when that happened. He didn't want to be around for that sort of hissy fit.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Flash said irritably, even though Peter has already moved away a bit. "You made the plan for her, didn't you? There's no way she could've thought of that all on her own..."

"For the love of- knock it off, you damn crybaby!" Peter snapped back, wanting no part of Flash's current mindset. "I didn't do anything for her. Yeah, I offered, but she refused my help. She did it all herself. Maybe don't underestimate your classmates so much, you're not as good as you think you are..." With that bitter statement, he walked away.

Flash absorbed that information for a moment, before following its route towards the designated class 1-A grandstand area.

"Well look who came crawling back with his tail between the legs!" Laura mocked, seeing the boy walk in.

"Oh shut up, you lost too!" He retorted, sitting next to the girl. She in turn put her legs on the boy's lap, who did nothing to remove them.

"Yeah, but she faced Reyes," Sam said, trying to make a joke while Flash seemed to be in a good mood. "It's not a fair comparison after all. Wanda's a weak girl-"

"Argh!" Before he could finish, Laura was trying to get at him with her claws, only to be stopped by one of Flash's tentacles holding her around the waist.

"End the sentence, asshole!!" He said, gritting his teeth. Sam cringed back in his seat with fear.

"The last word I'd use to describe that girl, is fragile..." Flash finished, bringing Laura back to her chair. As much as he'd love to see a fight, against Sam, it didn't seem worth it.

.

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Barber's Chair

• Bit of a twist ending based on the original match. With how Flash's Quirk seems to be giving him a bit of trouble, Wanda was able to exploit the brief opening and secure a victory.